The Alexander Chonicles: Summer Odyssey
by David-El
Summary: After the events of TLT, Alex has trouble at camp and leaves to reunite with Doc Egan. But when trouble strikes at camp, he can't help but return for the summer. Sequel to Mystery Boy.
1. What Happened Between TLT & SOM Part 1

Summer Odyssey

The Alexander Chronicles

Part Two

Chapter I: What Happened Between

The Lightning Thief & Sea of Monsters

Part 1: Olympus

Camp was hell.

I know, you'd think that a camp where you learn to be a hero would be heaven on earth. But for me, Alexander Summers, only living son of Zeus, it was hell. Everyone had been staring at me since Dad claimed me, obviously expecting me to be exceptional at everything. But when I couldn't even beat the newest camper in a duel, everyone started teasing me. I would often run to Thalia's tree for some privacy. My only relief came when Dad contacted me and said I could come to Olympus for a while and meet the family. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.

For once, I actually had something to look forward to at camp. With Olympus waiting for me, I worked twice as hard to 'pass' my 'classes.' Unfortunately, that only made me worse at the rock wall; if it weren't for the winged shoes I got from Luke, I probably would have died at least six times a day. Finally, December 20th came, and we were allowed to leave camp for Olympus (Yes, Dad told me to come with the other campers, he thought it wouldn't draw as much attention as me leaving on my own.) When we arrived, we met many of the Big 14 Olympians, the only ones missing were Aphrodite and my step-mother, Hera (definitely not someone that I was looking forward to meeting.) Oh, and Dad made a special room in his palace just for me.

The Winter Solstice Council was a very boring meeting, pretty much nothing more than a chance for my father and uncles to officially apologize to each other after the events of the past year. After that, Olympus became very interesting. I got to meet most of my 'divine' relatives, and for the most part they all liked me. I learned that Dad had made many of his children give me a gift before he was born, thus the confusion over my heritage last year. From Ares, I'd had skill and knowledge of weapons (but he took that away after I shot him with the Lightning Bolt); Athena, I got wisdom; from Apollo, a love of and skill with music; from Artemis, skill with archery; from Dionysus, my satyr-like sense of smell; and from Hermes, mastery of flight. Over the next few weeks, I got to know most of them very well, except for Artemis, as she left for her Hunters only a week after the meeting.

I had been there for about three months when I realized that I was missing something. One evening, I was sitting at the peak of Olympus, looking down at New York when Dad came to me in his 'mortal' form. "Something's troubling you, son. What is it?"

"I almost feel like I'm losing my humanity here, Dad. Don't get me wrong, I love it up here. It's just that I feel if I stay up here 'till summer, I won't be able to look at my friends as equals."

"I know it's hard for you, Alex, but I don't know any mortal I'd trust to keep you safe. And I know that you don't want to go back to Camp yet."

"What about another demigod? I know that Doc Egan is a son of Apollo, and he's in Greece right now."

"_HIM?_"

"Yeah, what's wrong with him? He took care of me for a whole year when I was seven."

"He thought that he could date your mother, that's what's wrong! Your mother was special. Poseidon said Sally Jackson was a queen among women. He's right about that, but Sarah was _The_ queen of women. We'd only known each other a month before I proposed to her."

"Wait a minute, _proposed?_"

"Yes. She'd known who I was from the first minute I spoke to her. When I proposed, I told her that I was willing to divorce Hera and marry her, even make her a goddess if she said yes. But she said no, to my everlasting regret she said no."

"But that doesn't explain why I can't go to Doc."

"You're right. Apollo will take you in the morning. Oh, and Alex, before you go, I want to say two things."

"Sure, what is it Dad?"

"First, when you get back to camp, you're going to find a gift from me in the Olympia model. Just imagine what you want it disguised as, and it will change. But use it sparingly, it's extremely dangerous."

"No problem."

"Second, in case you out live me, I want you to take my place as Lord of the Sky."

"WHAT? What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to be honest, Alex. I'm worried that you and Percy are right about my father. If you are, I might not survive, and I want you to take over my duties as God of the Air if I fall in the war. That's why I named you Prince of the Air last summer."

"Dad, please don't talk about dying. I just found you, I don't want to worry about losing you so soon!" He eventually calmed me down, and I packed for my trip to Greece.


	2. What Happened Between TLT & SOM Part 2

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter I: What Happened Between**

**The Lightning Thief & Sea of Monsters**

**Part 2:Greece**

When we arrived in Greece, Doc welcomed me with open arms, but he was upset when he heard about my mom's death. When I told him I was there to reconnect with my humanity, he told me that was easy enough to do, and he assigned me to one of the digging crews. That night he explained what he was doing there. "You know who Perseus is right? Well, I'm determined to find his grave."

"Why here, in Mycenae? I thought that he was from Argos, and we're a good distance from Argos."

"Yes, he was from Argos, but he was king of Mycenae. Besides, no one's ever found his tomb in Argos. I'm hoping that with the information from history, and what I've gleaned from Chiron, I'll find the bones of Perseus, and prove that he actually existed."

Over the next few weeks, we all worked hard excavating Mycenae, and I learned a lot about archaeology. When work was done, Doc even helped me relearn the sword, though I frequently frustrated him with how slowly I learned. Although we learned a lot about Mycenae, we never found so much as one tomb. In mid-April we finally found a tomb, but it was not labeled Perseus, instead it was labeled: Αγαμέμνονα βασιλιάς των βασιλέων, κατακτητή της Τροίας, which translated to Agamemnon, King of kings, conqueror of Troy. "Well, that's one mythological king of Mycenae found, just not the one we're looking for."

"I always could look to you to be an eternal optimist, Alex. He's right, we've found one king, so let's find Perseus!" A few weeks later, we found another tomb, but this one was different. Instead of a name, it was covered with pictographs that seemed to tell the story of Perseus and Heracles. When we sent some of the diggers down there, only one came back, and he was ranting about "snake-women that turned men to stone." Doc didn't believe him, so he grabbed me and we went down to look for ourselves. As we moved inside, we ran across statues of Greek soldiers, growing more and more numerous the deeper we went in. Something about this seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it until we entered a large room, and I caught a very familiar scent, sulfur.

"Doc, I can smell sulfur down here."

"That's foolish. There's nothing down here that would smell like sulfur."

"What about monsters? I bet Stethno and Eurayle are here, waiting for anyone interested in Perseus, or related to him." He conceded that, and pulled out a bow, while I pulled out Thuella. We started walking backwards, using our shields to try and find the Gorgons.

We heard them before we saw them, a rattle that sounded more like that of a rattlesnake than something human. When we finally saw their reflections, we understood why: they _weren't_ human. If you've ever seen _Clash of the Titans_, then picture Medusa and you know what they look like.

Doc tried shooting them, but the arrows couldn't pierce their thick hides. When I thought about when I faced Medusa last year on Percy's quest, I remembered that Annabeth had mentioned that as long as she had been wearing sunglasses, that they were safe, so I decided that I would see if that worked both ways. I put on my sunglasses (they were required equipment at any dig) and activated my javelin. I turned, faced them, and threw the javelin at the Gorgon that was further away. It pierced the heart (naturally) and pinned the Gorgon to the wall. The other one screamed and wailed for "Eurayle," obviously the one I'd pinned. I flew to Eurayle and cut her head off (yes, I could do something as simple as that), then turned to Stethno. Unfortunately, she'd caught Doc, and was trying to get him to open his eyes. "HEY, UGLY! Look over here! I killed Eurayle, and I was present at the death of Medusa by Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon!"

That got her attention. She turned to me and shot an arrow through my right shoulder, pinning _me_ to the wall, and then she came to me, obviously intent on taking my sunglasses off and turning me to stone. She never got the chance, as I switched sword hands and took her head, and I decided to see if I could change it into an ordinary object. I focused my thoughts on a medallion with a Gorgon head on it, and _voila_, it worked! We then finished exploring the tomb, finding two coffins inside, one for Perseus, and the second for Heracles.

When we came out of the tomb, I felt a tug in my stomach, one I immediately recognized from the two times I had felt it before. I rushed back to Corinth and took a taxi to our hotel. When I got there, I ran for the copy of Phoebe's prophecy that I'd brought, and searched through it until I'd found the two lines I was looking for: _The third seal broken: The guardian tree poisoned_. Just then, I got an Iris-message from Chiron. "Alex, don't come back to the camp, we've got trouble."

"Yes, I already know. Thalia's tree has been poisoned." I cut the connection and got out a phone and called the airport. "Hello, I need to know the time for the first flight to New York."

**A/N:** Wow! I can't believe that I actually finished three chapters in as many days! But don't hope for that kind of speed for the rest of this story. In the meantime, what do you think so far?


	3. Another Warm Welcome

**A/N:** I recently got an idea for another fic. I was watching _The Mummy_ recently when I heard Ardeth say that Imhotep "can not be killed by any mortal weapon" and I realized that celestial bronze is an _immortal_ weapon. What do you think of a PJATO/Mummy c/o, a story about Solon Jackson, son of Athena joining the O'Connell's?

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter II: Another Warm Welcome**

It was May twentieth before another available flight to JFK was open, and I used the time to close down another part of my life. I said goodbye to Doc and the few friends I'd made in the team, and I packed up the few things I'd earned here, a few drachmas, pictures of the tombs, and of course, Stethnos' head. (What? You never know when a Gorgon's head could be useful.) I even had time to catch the _Smallville_ Season 6 finale. (**A/N: **Don't worry, there's a reason for this.)

After an uneventful flight, I activated my flying shoes (a gift from the traitorous Luke Castellan, one of the few good things that came from my distant cousin, on the Doc's side of the family) and started flying over Manhattan to check on Percy before going to Camp. It's a good thing that I did, because as I did, I passed over Meriwether College Prep just as the gym exploded. When I dived down, I watched as a giant threw a flaming bronze ball at a kid and then turned to Percy, obviously intent on killing him. I wasn't about to allow that, Percy was my oldest and best friend. I pulled out Thuella and activated the bow and shot him in the heart, just as a bronze knife pierced him in nearly the same spot, and he blew into a cloud of sulfur dust, something that clearly marked him as a monster. I turned to Percy and asked, "Can't you get through _one_ school year without getting into some kind of trouble?"

"Apparently not. Where did you come from? I thought you were staying at Camp this year."

"There's no time right now guys! We've got to get going _NOW!_ And Percy, bring him," Annabeth pointed at the kid that had been hit by the flaming ball. Amazingly, he was still alive, but considering what I saw through the Mist, maybe not so amazing. That kid was a Cyclops! While we ran from the authorities, again, Annabeth and Percy were arguing for some reason about Tyson. (I guess I could understand why Annabeth wouldn't trust him, in what little time I'd spent with Luke, he'd told me a lot about their trip to Camp Half-Blood, including the time that they had been delayed by Cyclopes.) "Now come on, we have to get out of here."

"The police will be after me."

"That's the least of our problems. Have you two been having the dreams?"

"The dreams . . . about Grover?" Annabeth and I were surprised about that, why would he be having dreams about Grover? When Annabeth explained about the trouble at camp, Percy asked "But what _kind_ of trouble?"

Annabeth said "I don't know exactly. Something's wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, trying to stop me."

"You don't know what's wrong?" I asked. She nodded and asked what I knew. Typical of her, or any child of Athena. "Another seal's been broken." They obviously didn't remember the reference, so I quoted "_The third seal broken: The guardian tree poisoned_. Someone's poisoned Thalia's tree, and the magical borders are failing."

"_WHAT?_ Then we need to get to camp ASAP!" She went fishing in her bag, obviously for a drachma, so I gave her one. "Thanks. _Stethi, o harma diaboles!"_ _Stop, o Chariot of Damnation!_ That didn't sound good, and sure enough, once the "Chariot of Damnation" had arrived, I recognized the drivers. The Graeae, three ancient immortal women who only had one eye and one tooth between them, definitely not the best people to be driving. No wonder it was called the Chariot of Damnation, you'd be extremely lucky if you survived the ride. Percy and Annabeth took one look at the "seatbelts" and avoided them and I told the three of them "You'll be sorry." I buckled up, chains or not, it would be safer to wear them then not. Annabeth actually seemed to _trust_ them, despite the fact that they only had one eye. Then again, maybe it was because they claimed to "know thing! Every street in Manhattan! The capital of Nepal! The location you seek!"

Percy noticed that, maybe because the other sisters tried to shush her after mentioning that. "What? What location? I'm not seeking any-"

"Nothing! You're right boy. It's nothing!" After their vehement denials, they started fighting over the eye, again, until it popped out and landed in Percy's lap, definitely _not_ the best thing that could've happened. When they lost the eye, the Graeae actually _sped up_ When Percy noticed where it had landed, and _what_ it was, he jumped so hard that he nearly hit the ceiling. When he came down, he nearly squashed the eye with his foot. He eventually got them to say the location, after threatening to throw the eye out the window. Unfortunately, the location was nothing more than eight numbers: 30317512. How could those numbers be useful?

We finally made it to Camp, and just in time from what I could tell. Clarisse was leading a group of campers against, oh joy, the Colchis Bulls. I thought about leaving Clarisse to fight the Bulls on her own (What? We had _hated_ each other since day one, and things hadn't changed any over the past year. Her and her siblings were the ones who teased me the most the past year!) But I knew that Percy and Annabeth would want to defend the camp, so I had to join in the defense. Besides, it _would_ give me a chance to see if Thuella would work against them, it was the main reason I asked for celestial _steel_ instead of bronze. It worked, while Tyson took care of one of the bulls, I shot it with one of my "special" arrows, arrows covered with the blood of Medusa & the Hydra-two of the deadliest poisons known to our world. It worked _perfectly_, when the arrow pierced the eye, it burst into blue flame, and when the flame had died, there was nothing left of it, the only way you could tell it had even been here were the hurt campers, and circles of ash where the hooves used to be.

Clarisse was _not_ happy to see us. "You-two-ruin-everything! I had everything under control!"

"Good to see you too, Clarisse," Percy said, while I said "You're welcome." I was looking down at the camp, while Annabeth and Percy talked about Tyson, Percy had finally realized what Tyson was. On the surface, the camp didn't look so different, but if you looked closely. . . well, things were obviously _wrong_. You could almost _smell_ the danger in the air, and the counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons. The forest was sickly-Thalia's pine in particular, and the burn marks from the bulls were like living scars.

It was then that I heard something that caught my attention. "We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."

"WHAT? _Tantalus!_ What's _he_ doing here?"

"He's the activities director."

Percy objected before I could. "Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here."

"Argus got fired. You three have been gone too long. Things are changing." That's when Clarisse pointed out Thalia's tree. Percy and Annabeth's shock were palpable when they saw it. But I noticed something I hadn't before, a puncture in the trunk about the size of a bullet hole. And from the hole, a sickly green sap oozed out.


	4. A Shocking Claim

**A/N:**I know I forgot to do this earlier, so: I _still_ don't own PJATO. And that's the only time I'm going to say that.

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter III: A Shocking Claim**

The camp had taken on aspects of a military school: everyone seemed tenser than a private around a drill sergeant, and nearly everyone was doing somethingwith their weapons. No one said "Hi" or "Welcome back" to me or Percy, and their mood put a dampener on even _my_ usual, optimistic mood. The only one who wasn't affected by the other campers was Tyson, who was interested in everything to do with the camp; whenever he saw something he always asked "Whasthat!" When Tyson found out about the cabins, he was amazed, but Percy seemed embarrassed. Probably because we weren't supposed to be alive. About sixty years ago, the Delphic oracle had made a prophecy that said that a demigod child of the Big Three-Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, would be responsible for the destruction or salvation of Olympus when they turned sixteen. And so, in an attempt to prevent the prophecy (a stupid idea in my opinion-in the myths, whenever you tried that, you usually ended up causing it's fulfillment) they decided to not have anymore demigod children, but Percy and I were born anyway, and Thalia before us.

When we arrived at the Big House, we found Chiron packing to leave. Tyson immediately shouted out "Pony!"

Chiron looked upset when he heard that. "I beg your pardon?"

"Chiron, what's happening? You're not . . . leaving?" Annabeth sounded like she was about to break down into tears.

Chiron greeted us. "Hello, child. Percy, my goodness; you've grown over the year! And Alex, welcome back; I can't say that I'm surprised that you came despite my orders."

"What did you expect, for me to stay in Greece with the Doc? And Clarisse said something about . . . you getting fired?"

"Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Your father was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."

"Besides himself, you mean." Percy was upset, and I didn't blame him. Dionysus hated us, and the feeling was mutual. In fact, he was my only sibling that I might hate more than Ares.

"But this is crazy! Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!" Annabeth seemed on the edge of hysteria.

"Nevertheless, some in Olympus do not trust me now under the circumstances."

Tyson finally made himself known again, by saying "Pony?"

"My dear young Cyclops! I am a _centaur_."

"Chiron, what about my sister? _What happened to her?_"

"The poison used on Thalia's tree is something from the Underworld. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the depths of Tartarus." I wasn't so sure. It almost looked like it was dying of old age to me. (And yes, a tree can die of old age.)

"Then we know who's responsible. Kro-"

"Do not invoke the Titan Lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."

"But last summer he tried to start a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He probably got Luke to do it, that traitor."

"Perhaps. But I fear I am going to be held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless . . ."

I perked up at that. "Unless what?"

"No. A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago." I was intrigued. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the Greek mythological world, but I'd never heard of something that could do that. Except for maybe one thing, but I wasn't sure about _it_.

Percy was intrigued as well. "What _is_ it? We'll go find it!"

Chiron had finished packing by now, and he focused his attention on us. "Listen, I didn't want either of you to come back this year. It's much too dangerous. But now that you are here, _stay_ here. Train hard. Learn how to fight. But both of you must promise me that you will not act rashly and _stay here_." Chiron left soon after that, and Tyson and Annabeth started crying a river. Percy and I tried to comfort them, but we knew that it would be hard to do, especially considering that we didn't know if things _would_ be all right.

It was getting to be dusk by then, so we filed in for dinner. Percy was the only one sitting alone. Mr. D was already sitting down, at my table, with a friend. Last year, when I'd met him, I saw the _real_ Dionysus for the briefest second before I saw the Mist-covered illusion that everyone else saw. Now, I saw only the real Mr. D-a fat man who'd been to far too many drunken parties, his belly bulging out over his pants. He was in direct contrast to his friend, who couldn't have weighed more than fifty pounds, easily nothing more than skin and bones. It was hard for me to believe that he wasn't dead, until I noticed that he _was_ dead. Looking at him from the right angle, you could see right through him, an obvious trait of something from the Underworld. He was dressed in the orange jumpsuit of a prison, and he was numbered 0001. Dionysus turned to his friend and pointed at me and Percy, saying "Those boys you need to watch. Sons of Poseidon and Zeus, you know."

"Ah, _them_." Obviously they'd been talking about us ever since Mr. Skin-and-Bones had arrived. "I am Tantalus. On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise." _Or until I decide to send you back_, I thought. "And you two, Perseus Jackson and Alexander Summers, I _do_ expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."

"Trouble?" we asked. Neither of us knew what he could be talking about. Then Mr. D snapped his fingers and two newspapers appeared. Two headlines stood out. The first was _Thirteen-Year-Old Boy Torches Gymnasium_, and it had Percy's picture next to it. The other read _Renowned Archaeologist and Assistant Discovers Mythological Tomb: Loses Large Number of Diggers to Booby Traps_, and it had Doc Egan and me in the picture. My hand reflexively moved to Stethno's medallion as I thought of the local help that had died because of her and her sister.

"Yes, trouble. I understand you two caused plenty of it last summer." Yeah, like it was our fault that our parents nearly went to war. Just then a satyr arrived with Tantalus' food. I couldn't help but laugh when the food and drink ran from him. When he glared at me, I said "What did you expect, _brother_? Dad will never let you taste food or drink again after what you did." (He was unfortunately a fellow son of Zeus, and one that I'd never wanted meet.)

"I'm going to keep an eye on you, bastard. I don't want any problems at _my_ camp."

Percy responded before I could. "Your camp _already_ has problems . . . sir." D sent him to his table, and decided to keep Tyson at our table until they had decided what to do with him. I gave my usual offering, and prayed out loud for Dad and Hades to take Tantalus back before he could do too much damage. Many of the campers snickered when they heard that, my _brothers_ just glared at me, D looked like he wanted to turn me into a squirrel, while Tanty obviously wanted to eat me. T then gave an opening speech, saying out loud that he wanted to torture and eat us, and then announcing that the chariot races were being reinstated. I paled at that. I'd seen _Ben-Hur_ and I knew how dangerous they could be. Tantalus knew how dangerous they were too; if he didn't before, then Michael Yew reminded him. His attention then turned to Tyson. He insulted Tyson a number of times before asking where he should stay.

Before I could offer to let him stay with me, everyone gasped, me included. Because just over Tyson's head, there was a glowing, green trident. And no one was more shocked than Percy. I could tell he was starting to question whether being claimed by Poseidon was actually an honor or a joke. Tanty just saw it as another way to make fun of Percy and Tyson. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"

I wanted to blast him into Tartarus just for that! No one _ever_ picked on Percy when I was around, and I wasn't about to let them start now. I stood up, charged towards Tanty and punched him in the gut and then kneed him in the groin. He may be dead, but he sure felt solid. When he went down, I gave him one more punch, breaking his nose. "What was that for?"

"NO ONE insults Percy, Tantalus! _NOBODY!_ Especially not a cursed, cannibalistic fool like you!" I marched off to my cabin, not in the mood for anything fun tonight.


	5. Chariot Race & a Quest

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter IV: Chariot Race and a Quest**

Over the next week, I saw a side of Percy I didn't think existed. Whenever Tyson wasn't around, Percy denied that they were related. That really surprised me, especially when Sally told me that Percy had been defending him all school year, that sounded more like the Percy that I knew. I never knew Percy to bend to peer pressure, although I must admit that there were a lot of campers upset about Tyson (the only ones that didn't distance themselves from Percy because of him were Charlie, Jake, Silena and myself.) The one time he _did_ defend Tyson, it ended up sending his and Annabeth's relationship nearly back to the way it had been before last year's quest. Of course, that made nearly everyone feel better about their chances at the chariot race-everyone had been scared that they'd work together, making them unstoppable (considering Athena invented the chariot and Poseidon created horses.)

Personally, I paid no attention to the planning for the races, until the night that I decided to look for the gift that Dad promised would be waiting for me. I couldn't find it, until I looked inside the model of the Olympic Temple at Dad's statue, and what I saw there, I couldn't believe. I reached for it, and the bolt flew to my hand, where it grew to a length of three feet. I could feel the tears start to flow as I examined it, a perfect duplicate of the Master Bolt. How could Dad trust me with something like this? I couldn't let anybody know that I had this, so I immediately disguised it, disguising it in such a way that if anybody ever found out I had it, no one would be able to identify it by the disguise. My disguise: an eye of Ra-Egyptian god of the sun. But then I noticed a piece of blue paper under the Temple, and I was bitten by the curiosity bug, I had to know what it was. Turns out, it was blueprints for a chariot of all things! I thought of just getting rid of them, until I found the note. It said _To Alexander Summers, From Zeus and Athena, Use these to win the race!_ Well, with that kind of backing, how could I say no? Especially considering my sister was backing _me_ instead of her children!

I had no knowledge of how to build a chariot, (if Hephaestus had actually been one of my brothers I might, but who knows?) so I turned to two sons of Hephaestus that I knew I could count on. "Hey Charlie, Jake! You two around?"

"Hey Alex! I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"You did, but you know me, I don't take orders to well! You guys free right now?"

"Yeah, what's up?" I showed him the blueprints, "WOW! These are amazing! Where did you get them?" I told him the truth, sort of-I said I found them in my cabin, but I kept quiet about the note. "Hmm, never heard of someone doing that before, but we'll build it. You're one of the few people who actually gave us blueprints. The others just trust us to build good ones."

"You mean you don't? You cheat?"

"Well, technically. But we don't have quality guarantees, so they can't get mad at us." Of course after that, I simply couldn't trust them, so I kept a close eye on them, whenever I wasn't training that is. The chariot was finished in only three days, built out of our unique metal-celestial steel, and small enough that I could easily drive it alone.

Of course, the completion of the chariot only gave me time to obsess over the one thing that had been bugging me since I came back to New York, the eight numbers the Graeae had dictated. What was their purpose, and how could they be "the location you seek?" Finally, the night before the race I grew so frustrated that I threw it down, cursing "Ares!" Wait a minute, Ares? Ares . . . Ares . . . Ares! Of course! Project Ares was something that Lex Luthor had been working on though Season Six of Smallville. The prototype for Project Ares, a Green Beret named Wes Keenan, had used his dying breath to gasp out eight digits that had Lois going crazy until she tore them in two and realized that they were coordinates. I knew it was possible that it was the same was true of these numbers, but that didn't help unless I had a map. Of course I knew the best person to turn to for that, and I fished out a drachma. "Oh, Iris! Accept my offering. Athena on Mount Olympus."

"Alex, hi! How are things down there? You get the blueprints?"

"Hi, sis. The camp's the gloomiest I've ever seen. And yeah, I got them. Why'd you send them to me? Shouldn't you be helping your kids out?"

"Technically, I shouldn't be helping anyone out, but I always do. And I would have helped out Annabeth, but I'm still upset over what happened at the Lotus Casino last year. And her treatment of Jackson and the Cyclops, deplorable! She should know better than to think that if you know one Cyclops, you know them all, and to break off her friendship with Jackson. Well, I might like the idea of her not being around him, but I'd prefer she did it for a different reason."

"Really? So, how's Olympus?"

"Back to normal, except for Father. He's even more furious now then when we discovered the theft of the Bolt. Now, why'd you _really_ call?"

"What? I can't just call up my favorite sister to check up on her?"

"Sure, but we both know that I'm too smart to know that that isn't why you called. So, what's up?"

"I was kind of hoping that you might have a map I've been wanting."

"Probably. What kind of map?"

"A world map for demigods with latitude and longitude."

"What do you mean, a map for demigods?"

"A map that has locations of special significance marked, like Aunty Em's or Olympus. You know, places to avoid, or make sure we go to, things like that."

"Oh, sure! It'll be there in the morning." With that promise, I thanked her and went to bed, the race filling my thoughts.

The next morning was hot and humid, for New York; for me, coming from Greece, it felt quite normal. As the teams gathered around the track, Tanty announced the rules. Charlie's chariot was an amalgam of bronze and steel, drawn by automaton horses, and without a doubt covered with traps of all kinds. Clarisse had a blood-red chariot drawn by skeleton horses-a gift from her dad no doubt. Lee Fletcher's was designed like the classical figure of his father's "sun chariot" and was covered in gold. The Stoll's obviously hadn't been used since the races were banned, it was as green as the Statue of Liberty (a version of Athena, according to Annabeth. Athena just blushed when I had asked her about it five months ago.) Mine gleamed silver, and was designed after Dad's chariot, with lightning bolts around the edge and images of the defeats of Kronos and Typhon on the sides.

The race started when we had lined up (Tanty was a little _too_ pleased when he saw that I was racing alone,) and the Hermes & Apollo chariots went out inside of twenty feet. I was in the lead by ten feet when I noticed the birds. I took a close look at them (I had extremely good eyesight, closer to an eagles' thanks to Dad) and thought I saw something odd about them. Then I caught a scent in the air: sulfur, coming from the birds. That's when I realized that I knew them from one of the tales I heard on Olympus. Heracles was very proud of what he'd done in his life, and enjoyed telling his story whenever someone gave him the chance, and it was thanks to him that I recognized the birds. I immediately pulled off to the side and activated my bow and started shooting them, but I quickly realized that it wouldn't be enough, especially when they started diving in at us, taking Charlie out of the race, not that anyone besides Tanty was paying any attention to it anymore. That's when Percy and Annabeth noticed the birds and started fighting them with no more luck than me. I tried using my aerokinetic powers against them, but they just got madder. While Annabeth and Percy ran for the Big House to follow my brothers' example, I decided things were desperate enough to use my Bolt, especially considering I didn't know if their plan was going to work, or even if they'd survive. So I pulled off my eye of Ra necklace and started shooting birds out of the sky by the dozens. They soon came back with a stereo that soon started playing Dean Martin music (who knows why, he's a pretty good singer, even if he sings in Italian at times. I thought Heracles made a terrible sound to scare them off,) and it actually _worked_. Between the arrows of Apollo and my lightning, we annihilated the birds, no more than five or ten could have escaped alive.

Unfortunately, Tanty was more concerned with the race. He crowned Clarisse champion, and sent Annabeth, Percy and me to the kitchen, actually blaming _us_, or at least our "bad chariot driving skills" for the attack. Percy told him to "go chase a doughnut," I just had to laugh at that. The one good thing about our punishment was that it gave Percy and Annabeth time to reconcile and a chance to plan. Percy told us about a dream that he'd had about Grover, and what he said made me think that it just _might _be possible that they were talking about _it_. Annabeth seemed to agree with me "If he's really found it, and if we could retrieve it . . ."

"Hold on, you make it sound like this . . . whatever-it-is is the only thing that could save the camp. What _is_ it?"

Yep, Annabeth and I were thinking along the same lines, so I helped out with the explanation. "Percy, what do you get when you skin a sheep?"

"Messy?"

Annabeth was a little upset with that answer. "_A fleece._ The coat of a ram/sheep is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool-"

"The Golden Fleece. Are you two serious?"

Annabeth then told Percy the background of the Fleece and Jason's quest to bring it to Greece, ending with, "It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution-"

"It could cure Thalia's tree."

"And thanks to the Graeae and Athena, we now know exactly where it is." Annabeth and Percy looked at me confused. "You still don't know the significance of the numbers? Eh, it took me a while to figure it out too, but they're coordinates, latitude and longitude. And thanks to Athena, we have an accurate map, including the Sea of Monsters."

"So we can rescue Grover and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"

"A little _too_ perfect, don't you think? What if it's a trap."

"Ah, Annabeth! Don't ruin Percy's good mood with your pessimism. After all it's a _sea_, his home turf. How hard could it be?"

Annabeth couldn't silence her pessimism however. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."

"Who says we have to get permission? I didn't have permission when I went after you guys, I just left."

"Or we could tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."

That night around the campfire, Tanty was just about to make an announcement about the schedule when Percy said "We have an idea to save the camp."

Tanty wasn't impressed. "Indeed. Well, if it has anything to do with chariots-"

"We know where the Golden Fleece is." Before my _dear brother_ could say anything else or stop us, Percy told his dreams involving Grover and Annabeth reminded everyone what the Fleece could do.

"The Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Actually, we know _exactly_ where it is." I pulled out my map and then continued. "We've known where it is since before we arrived at camp. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. Your exact location, all we need to do is go and get it." The campers quickly drowned out Tantys' opposition, but instead of granting the quest to Percy, he gave it to his favorite camper, Clarisse. There was a lot of arguing about that, even growing to a food fight, but Tanty put a stop to that by telling his story, not even Percy dared object to him now.

"Good. And let me remind everyone-no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries . . . well, if they survive the attempt they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night my dear campers. Sleep well." _If you think that is going to stop us, you've got another thing coming, brother, because the four of us are going, and you can't stop us._

**A/N:** That's chapter four done! I would have had it up sooner, but because of a heat wave we've been experiencing, I lost everything I'd typed up that day. And I told you the Smallville reference was important. And before you ask, the reason Alex curses using Ares name instead of Hades is because he likes Hades too much to "use his name in vain," while he hates Ares enough to not mind. Oh, and please _**READ AND REVIEW!**_ Is it really so difficult?


	6. Escapes

**A/N:** For the only time in this story: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I DO own Alex Summers and any other characters that you don't recognize.

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter V: Escapes**

After the announcement that _Clarisse_ of all people getting the quest, I went to Annabeth and pulled her aside. "What are you doing Alex? We need to get to our cabins."

"Not before we talk."

"What about?"

"Tyson." Annabeth blanched at that. "And the Fleece." I'd been planning to talk to her about Tyson mostly, but considering how pale she'd gotten, I knew we'd have to talk about something else, just to keep her spirits up. "Listen, I know you don't like Poseidon's kids, usually. And I know that you don't like Cyclops, but why do you have to treat Tyson like he's just another monster? He's already saved Percy twice, and yet you keep treating Tyson like the plague and you nearly ended your friendship with Percy. I want to know _why_."

"You already know why."

"I know why you hate Cyclops in general, but why Tyson? He could become one of the good Cyclops that work in the forges, but not if you keep treating him like dirt. You treat him like a monster, and he'll _become_ a monster, so why?"

"You really want to know why? They were the reason Thalia died!"

"I already know that! Luke told me what happened, but I don't think that's the real reason, so tell me!" I knew that by now, my eyes had gone from their usual sky-blue color to storm-cloud-black from my anger. It seemed like Annabeth would never tell me the real reason she didn't like Tyson.

Finally, after a five-minute wait, I heard her whisper "I'm scared, alright? I'm terrified of Cyclops, especially after one of them sounded like my dad. If I'd thought that we didn't need Tyson, I'd have probably killed him at the school." She paused for a minute, letting that sink in, and letting me cool off (I'd been known to electrocute people when I got mad enough,) and then she asked "What about the harpies?"

"Right. Come on, we'll go to my place, and then we need to plan."

"Your place? First, isn't that off limits? And second, aren't we a little young for that?"

I stared at her, uncomprehending. Then it hit me. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Annabeth. I'd expect something like that from one of Hermes or Aphrodite's kids, but not you. Are you sure that you're Athena's?" She just laughed and we headed to my cabin. We talked and planned for about two hours, discussing what to bring and what we might encounter, until we heard Percy cry out "HELP! Monsters!" We ran for the shore, where we found Percy just staring out to sea. "Hey, what's wrong cuz? We heard you calling for help."

"Me too. Heard you yell. 'Bad things are attacking!'" I hadn't even noticed Tyson until then.

"I didn't call you guys. I'm fine." He then told us that he'd met Hermes and that Hermes had given him a thermos of winds and some multivitamins. _That_ caught my attention, those gifts sounded like the ones given to the most famous person to pass through the Sea of Monsters: Odysseus. I was starting to get a really optimistic feeling about this, until Percy and Annabeth started arguing about Tyson, again. Eventually Annabeth yielded and Percy asked Poseidon for help. I was starting to get nervous when I saw the wakes, but I nearly panicked when I saw the hippocampus. "Uh, Percy? Are you sure it's safe for me to go with you? I don't want your dad vaporizing me and causing another war."

"Well, when you put it that way, maybe you better follow us in the air." So while the three of them rode the hippocampi out to sea, I turned on the flying shoes and followed them, while also buying them time to escape by shooting the harpies that had found us.

We soon found the ship that would take us to Florida, the _Princess Andromeda_, a little ironic if you ask me, considering that Andromeda had been saved by Percy's namesake. I landed on it, and when I noticed that they would have a lot of trouble getting up, I found a rope and dropped it down to them. I was just starting to get comfortable on the seemingly deserted ship, when the breeze shifted and I caught a strong scent of sulfur, and I wasn't the only one. Tyson also noticed the scent of monsters. "So, what do you smell?"

"Something bad," Tyson answered, just as I said, "Monsters. Lots and lots of monsters. Enough that I wouldn't mind if Poseidon destroyed the ship." Annabeth ignored that and found us an empty cabin and we decided to rest for the night and explore the ship in the morning. Annabeth had an entire cabin to herself, while Percy and Tyson took a second. Me on the other hand, I snuck up into the ventilation and made myself comfortable, and went out like a light. Of course, that doesn't mean that I was dead to the world. While I slept, I heard Luke's voice talking to, _Chris_ _Rodriguez?_ Luke was saying, "Of course I know that they're here. Our spy told me that they were the ones that figured out how to save the camp."

"What are you going to do to them?"

"Oh, probably feed them to the drakon, assuming they're foolish enough to get caught."

"And if not? We might fail _Him _if they escape. And you know how he gets if someone fails him."

"Please, considering they've got Percy and a Cyclops, there's no chance they'd escape us." After that, they're voices faded to the point that even I couldn't hear them, and the rest of the night passed without further incident.

The next morning, we were awakened by the ship's whistle and the captain announcing, "Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our _special guests_, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!" I shot up at that. Percy and Tyson seemed unsure of what he had said, until Annabeth and I stuck our heads in the room (her through the door, me through the ventilation shaft in the ceiling) and asked in unison, "_Disemboweling _practice?"

Once we were dressed, we noticed a few odd things: first, nobody asked who we were; second, everyone seemed to be in a trance; third, the monsters were mixed in with the humans; and fourth, the humans made no notice of the monsters at all. We _might _have stayed for breakfast, but we heard two reptilian voices coming, and Percy and the others ran into the women's restroom. Now, emergency or not, I would never do anything _that_ embarrassing, so I slipped on my invisibility hat and just melted into the crowd. While we were hiding, Luke passed by, and by the time it was safe for us to reveal ourselves, Annabeth was determined to take him prisoner. We passed by Chris, and a number of monsters having some "disemboweling practice" on a dummy with a Camp Half-Blood shirt. We eventually found Luke's cabin, where we able to eavesdrop on a conversation, thanks to Tyson, until they overheard us, and we were captured. "Well, if it isn't my three favorite cousins. Come right in."

Luke had changed over the past year. Before, he had been loose and a rebel, casual and carefree, someone you could easily befriend. Now, he was cold, hard and aloof, someone who always carries out orders-and never questions them; in short, someone that was easy to hate. "Well, Percy, Alex. We let you survive another year. I hope you appreciate it."

"You poisoned my sister!" I accused.

"Right to the point, eh? Okay, sure I poisoned the tree. So what?" I was _furious_ with him! He actually sounded like _it didn't matter_ that Thalia had been poisoned! For a few seconds, all I saw was red, then I fought myself out of the grip of Agrius and charged Luke, intent on strangling him. But when I was only three feet away, something hit my head, and I was knocked unconscious. I woke up a few minutes later to Luke saying, "You see, I still have friends at camp who keep me posted."

"Spies you mean."

"How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? You think he's grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?" Tyson growled at that, but Luke wasn't done yet. "And what about Alex? He hasn't even been claimed! Do you really think that _his_ father cares about him? The gods are _so_ using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what's in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even _told_ you the prophecy?"

"I know what I need to know. Like who my enemies are."

"And who your friends are, right Percy?" I would have spoken up sooner, but I knew it would have been difficult to speak coherently till now.

"Well, welcome back to the land of the living, Alex. And just in time to old Dead-head!"

"Luke, wait! Your father sent us."

"Don't-_even_-mention him!"

"He told us to take this boat. I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you. He told me he won't give up on you, no matter how angry you are." I had to admit, Percy could make a pretty good speech when necessary. But I couldn't help but notice that it didn't do any good. My observation was confirmed with the next words out of Luke's mouth.

"_Angry? Give up on me?_ He abandoned me! I want Olympus destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! You tell Hermes it's going to happen, too. Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker, and _we_ grow stronger. _He_ grows stronger." Luke was pointing at the gold sarcophagus at the back of the room.

There was something utterly _wrong_ with that box, something incredibly _evil_ in there. So purely evil and so wrong that it seemed to make the temperature drop twenty degrees. Then it hit me, "Grandfather." I didn't dare say his name, not in his presence.

Luke was confused by that. "What do you mean, 'grandfather?' How could he be your grandfather?"

"Because I am the son of the one that got away."

"_You?_ A son of _Zeus?_" Luke started laughing like a maniac. "That's ridiculous! But in any case, he is reforming. Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another piece appears."

"That's disgusting!"

"Your mother was born from Zeus' split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn't talk. Soon enough there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, one worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."

"_A rejected son will seek solace; And ally himself with the prisoner who is formless._" I quoted.

"What? What did you say?"

"It's nothing, just an old saying." Just then, a few security guards came in and Luke told Oreius to deliver us to the Aethiopian drakon. When we got to the lifeboat deck, Tyson threw Oreius into a swimming pool. I noticed that a security guard was running for the alarm, so I threw my spear at him, and it hit him in the middle of his back. (Don't worry, I threw it at him backwards, it was the butt end that hit him.) We ran for a lifeboat and cut it loose, and thanks to Hermes' thermos, we made a quick getaway.

**A/N:** Was that long enough for you? And I know that Annabeth claimed that it was only her past experience with Cyclops that made her not like Tyson, but I couldn't believe that after what Tyson had done for Percy, so I figured that she must be afraid of them. Oh, and I need suggestions for what the _Birmingham_ saves them from, considering they've already fought the Hydra, and I'm planning on having the Chimera show up in TC. Oh, and don't forget: **REVIEW!**


	7. CSS Birmingham

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter V: The **_**CSS Birmingham**_

After about two hours on the lifeboat, we finally spotted land. Annabeth was shocked by how far we'd traveled. "That's Virginia Beach! Oh my gods, how did the _Princess Andromeda_ travel so far overnight? That's like-"

"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles." Percy answered so quickly and automatically it was almost like he was a computer.

"How did you know that?"

"I-I'm not sure."

"Percy, what's our current position?" What was Annabeth thinking? How could Percy possibly know where we were?

And yet, he did. "36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west." Again, as quick and automatic as a computer. "Whoa, how did I know that?"

"Because of your father. You have perfect bearings at sea. That is _so _cool_._" Annabeth then guided us to a demigod hideout that she had made with Thalia and Luke on their way to Camp Half-Blood five years ago. I could tell that even the thought of Annabeth and Luke together made Percy upset, or maybe the word was jealous. Wait a minute, Percy jealous of Luke? I filed that away for another time, a time when we weren't running for our lives.

We rested for about an hour before heading out to the coast. "So, Percy. Do you think that your dad will give us another ride, or do we have to find our own way to Polyphemus?"

"Who knows, Annabeth? I _hope_ he will, but with Alex here, who knows."

"Um, guys? I don't think we have to worry about that right now."

"What are you talking about Alex? What do we have to worry about besides getting the Fleece?"

"I can smell sulfur. And this is even worse than the Hydra."

"What could be worse than the Hydra?"

"Well, there's the Kraken, or the Leviathan. But they're probably a long ways from here." Just then, the sea in front of us started to boil, almost as if something was rising from the deep. "I may have spoken too soon." And unfortunately, I had, for before us, the Kraken rose out of the Chesapeake Bay. It was at least 1500 ft tall and 300 feet across with three thousand-foot tentacles, four scorpion-like legs, four clawed fingers on it's building-sized hands, an enormous armored body, and a head the size of the Parthenon with a mouth full of six-foot teeth and a bad attitude. (i.e., picture the 2010 Kraken.) "Um, guys. We've got a problem."

"YOU THINK?" Annabeth yelled at me. "How are we supposed to kill this thing? I've never even heard of this monster!"

"THIS is the Kraken! Dad told me about this while I was on Olympus. He said Perseus killed it when he saved Andromeda, but he didn't say how." Annabeth then pulled out a bow and started shooting at it's eyes, mouth, armpits and joints in the legs, Tyson picked up rocks and started throwing them at the Kraken, while Percy pulled out Anaklusmos and slashed at the tentacles when they came close. I decided to fly up about 150 ft and start shooting it with my lightning bolt. Fortunately for us, it was a slow monster, and we were always able to stay out of reach.

After we had been fighting about fifteen minutes, I started hearing things; I could have sworn that I heard cannon fire. I would have written it off to my imagination or sensitive hearing, until I noticed explosions on the back of the Kraken. I decided to help the newcomers out by getting the Kraken's attention to focus out to sea. Eventually it got the idea and turned it's attention to me and the _Confederate-style ironclad?_ Eventually the ironclad got a lucky shot in (a cannonball in the mouth) and the Kraken exploded into a mountain's worth of sulfur. It was only then that I noticed that the flag was _not_ one of the Confederate flags, but one that seemed to belong to Ares. Then, from inside the ship, we heard a very unwelcome voice. "Losers. But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard." Clarisse, oh joy.

After we were given a tour of the ship, Clarisse sat us down to dinner and told us that Tanty banned us from camp for eternity and Mr. D would kill us if we came back (I just _love _my brothers, don't you?) And apparently Ares gets a tribute from the losers of wars, the _Birmingham_ being the South's tribute, and he gave the ship to Clarisse for her quest. Also, Clarisse had _only_ the ship to help her out, not even her brothers and sisters offered to help her out on her quest.

That night, I had a dream, but it didn't involve Kronos or anything else Greek. _I was standing on the bank of the Thames River in London, and it was 2004, three years ago. (Don't ask me how I knew that, I just did.) Two people stood in front of an Egyptian obelisk, I think it's called Cleopatra's Needle. The man was dark-skinned, with piercing brown eyes, a goatee and the face of an Egyptian pharaoh. The woman had white skin, blond hair, and deep blue eyes. "You're sure? Absolutely sure?" the man asked the woman._

"_She told me this is where it begins. If we want to defeat the enemy, we must start with the obelisk. We must find out the truth." I noticed that she was wearing an amulet, one that almost looked like a kind of knot._

"_I don't like it. Won't you call on her help?"_

"_No. I know my limits Julius. If I tried it again . . ."_

_The man, Julius, then pulled an ivory boomerang and a long stick out of a bag. "Ruby, if we fail-"_

"_We can't fail. The world depends on us." They kissed and then started chanting in a language that sounded a little like Arabic. As they chanted, the Needle started to glow . . ._

I woke with a start, wondering why I had a dream that seemed to do more with Egypt than our quest. But maybe Egypt had more to do with this than I thought. After all, Phoebe warned that if Olympus survived, we would have to _"Beware Egypt's rise." _But that was a problem for another day. Right now, we were nearing the lair of Scylla and Charybdis, the main entrance to the Sea of Monsters. "So, what's your plan Clarisse? Scylla or Charybdis?"

"Charybdis, of course. Scylla's too high to shoot, while Charybdis just sits down there at the center of her whirlwind. So, we set a course straight for her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"

"Are you mad, Clarisse?"

"HAH! You afraid to get wet?" Percy showed up about thirty minutes later, and Clarisse explained her plan.

By the time we were nearing Charybdis, the ship had been battered by ten-foot waves at least half a dozen times, and the boiler room had heated up to the point that the zombies were vaporizing in the heat. Tyson left to fix the boiler, and we shot at Charybdis. From where I stood, it didn't look like we had done much damage to here, let alone blow her to Tartarus. Then Charybdis spit everything out, including the cannonball that had managed to actually hit her (and it blew a hole in the side of the ship.) When the wave hit us, I got blown out of the ship and into the sea. I watched helpless as Scylla attacked the ship, and the boiler finally blew. I couldn't believe that anyone could have survived. I was so focused on watching the wreckage for signs of survivors that I never noticed the Kraken (giant squid) until it was too late to escape. The Kraken surrounded me with its tentacles and swallowed me whole.


	8. Belly of the Beasts

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter VI: Belly of the Beasts**

How's this for irony: one of my favorite songs is Newsboys _Belly of the Whale_, and now I'm living it. . .

_Up to my ears_

_In bitter tears_

_Can't believe I've sunk this low_

_As I walk the plankton_

_Inner sanctum._

_Got outta Dodge,_

_Sailed on a bon-less_

_Bon voyage_

_You said North_

_I headed South_

_Tossed overboad_

_Good Lord, that's a really large mouth..._

_I'm sleeping with fishes here,_

_In the belly of the whale._

_I'm highly nutritious here,_

_In the belly of the whale._

_Bad food, lousy atmosphere._

_I don't wanna bellyache_

_How long is this gonna take?_

Seems like I've been in the Kraken for days, and yet I know that it can't have been more than a few hours. If only I could contact Poseidon, maybe he could kill the squid without hurting me, I really don't want to have to become a "human comet" as the song puts it. . .

_Woke up this morning kinda blue,_

_Thinking through that age-old question:_

_How to exit a whale's digestion?_

_It might behoove me to be heaved,_

_Head out like a human comet..._

_Guys, you might not wanna rhyme with comet_

_I'm sleeping with fishes here,_

_In the belly of the whale._

_I'm highly nutritious here,_

_In the belly of the whale._

_I'm ready to reappear._

_I don't wanna bellyache, _

_Lord, how long's this gonna take?_

Been in here for nearly twelve hours now, at least according to my watch, and I'm starting to think that maybe I should just give the Kraken a bellyache myself. With Thuella and the Bolt, I could do it, I just wish I knew if there was land around. I'd do anything to get out of here, even if it meant that I had to be vomited out. . .

_End times, they come rolling around,_

_Enzymes they come breaking us down to the core_

_The good Lord grants we all get a second chance._

_I'm one of the dishes here,_

_In the belly of the whale_

_They say I'm delicious here,_

_In the belly of the whale,_

_Lord, please make him chuck it all,_

_It 's a gut call_

_In the belly of the whale._

It's working, the Kraken is upset. Anytime now, and I'll get out of here. . .

_I'm in the belly of the the belly of the whale. I'm in the the belly of the whale. I'm in the belly of the the belly of the whale. I'm in the belly... _

_In the belly of the whale_

_In an underwater jail_

_It's a tight 's a-gettin' to me,_

_But it's roomier_

_Than the , sailor,_

_Got my flow free_

_Like a salmon to the sea_

_From the L.A. Symphony._

_I'm a paddleboat_

_Paddlin' in their wake,_

_A fake free-styler,_

_But my unemployment pays._

_I'm avoiding cliches_

_Like "whale of a tale" stale_

_Or "you can't keepA good man down,__"_

_'Cause you can_

_And I've been there, I've been expectorated._

_I'm elated!_

_I'm free like Willie!_

_Happy Day!_

_Oops,_

_That's a bit of a cliché. _

_In the belly..._

Ugh, I definitely don't recommend doing that unless the circumstances are desperate. Fortunately, I landed on what could only be described as an island paradise. Even better, I landed near Percy and Annabeth, who were shocked to say the least. "What happened to you? We thought you died after the shockwave hit."

"Oh, I was blown out of the ship and into the mouth of the Kraken, err, giant squid. Spent the last twelve hours in there."

Just then a friendly lady came up and said, "Welcome. Is this your first time with us?" When she saw our confused looks, she wrote down "First-time-at-spa. Let's see, an herbal wrap for the young lady. And of course, complete makeovers for the gentlemen." Percy and I both balked at that suggestion, but after she mentioned a luau, Annabeth gave in. The receptionist led us to a woman who was weaving an incredible tapestry; I was immediately suspicious. When I noticed how beautiful the woman was, I was doubly suspicious, it seemed too much like how some people described an encounter with the Sirens or Medusa.

When the woman, C.C., turned to us, she took one look at me and Percy and said, "Oh, my. We _do_ have some work to do, don't we?" Somehow, I was disappointed, like I'd failed someone important somehow, especially when she said that Percy and I needed far more work than Annabeth did. I couldn't understand why I wanted to please her, it didn't make any sense, almost like I didn't have control over myself. She then led us to a mirrored wall near the guinea pig cages. "You see, to unlock your potential, you'll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you're not happy the way you are." I had to admit, although I was very happy with the way I looked, there were a few things I'd change. I was still as skinny as a rail, and I'd gotten a few zits recently-nothing noticeable, but still. Besides, I still looked and smelled like I'd just been in a stomach.

When she directed our attention to her tapestry, the color changed and I saw a reflection, sort of. This reflection showed me built like Hercules, and perfectly clear skin, I'd even gained a couple inches. "Do you want that? Or shall I try a different-" We both said it was perfect, and when we asked what the catch was, she just said that we needed to drink a special shake. "Now, the hardest part of the makeover process is giving up control." I winced at that. One thing I'd definitely inherited from Dad was a need to control my life. This was going to be hard. "You have to decide: do you want to trust _your_ judgment about what you should be, or _my_ judgment?" We both yielded to her. She then handed us the shake and we drank it. Immediately a warmth spread through my body, I had trouble breathing, and I involuntarily closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes again, I could see far more than before, and I immediately noticed that I was a lot shorter than before, I barely reached to C.C.'s knees.

"Well, _this_ was unexpected. Percy here turned out perfectly, but what went wrong with you? Why are you a falcon, you're supposed to be a guinea pig! Men are pigs, and I used to turn them into _real_ pigs, but they were so smelly and large and hard to keep. Not much different from before really. Guinea pigs are much more convenient! But a falcon? I've _never_ done that before. I wonder what happened." Great, Circe. Well, at least that explains what happened. "Well, let's see here . . . ah hah! Here we go." She then started chanting in some ancient language, until "WHAT? How is that possible? A son of Jupiter, and an Egyptian mage of the House of Ra? How did that happen?" Huh? Egyptian mage? House of Ra? What was that about? I knew that my grandfather was Egyptian, and even my grandmother had some Egyptian blood, but what was the House of Ra?

I figured those were questions to be answered later, first I had to escape and warn Annabeth. I stretched out my new wings and flew off, but I couldn't resist attempting to scratch or peck out her eyes. I quickly found Annabeth, but I couldn't speak, so I just flew around her head. "What in the world? What are you doing?" I knew I had her attention, so I landed and was able to scratch out _C.C.-Circe _in the dirt. "C.C. is Circe? Are you sure? And how would you know?" I scratched a lightning bolt and _Alex_ this time. "Alex? Is that you?" I nodded my head, she had finally got it. "Where's Percy?" I took off and circled till she got the idea that we were moving. When I led her to Circe, she confronted the sorceress about Percy and got her talking so that she revealed herself. Annabeth then got a minute alone with Percy and pulled out, Hermes' multivitamins? Of course! Hermes had done the same thing to Odysseus when he landed at Circe's island 3,000 years ago! Naturally Circe was furious when she found out about Hermes' gift, but she was terrified when the guinea pigs got a hold of them (Good thing we got them, they were starting to tempt me.) I immediately recognized one of the former rodents, Edward Teach aka Blackbeard the pirate scourge of Colonial America. "Alex, come on! We need to get out of here!"

"Not yet Annabeth. First, I end this once and for all! Circe dies today! Wait for me." I chased Circe down and finally caught her. I dragged her back to her headquarters in front of her other victims. "All right, you are now on trial for your life. I have only one question that needs answered: Are you a sorceress?" She immediately confessed, and her victims, all six of them agreed. "Then as judge I find you guilty of the crime of sorcery. And following the Law of Moshe, as written down in Exodus 22:18-'You shall not suffer a sorceress to live,' you are condemned to death."

"Hmm, seems the Oracle was right. I _am_ going to die by the hands of a Jewish son of Jupiter." Those were her last words before I cut her head off. When I caught up to Percy and Annabeth, they were standing in front of the pier. "So, which boat do we take?"

Percy and I took a quick look at the boats, turned to each other and said in unison, "Frigate." We ran to it and quickly got it under way, Percy handling the currents and rudder, while I put wind in our sails. Next stop, the Sirens, and then Polyphemus.


	9. Sirens' Song

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews guys! And to answer your question, no, Alex is not an Egyptian 'godling,' but he does have the potential to become one. He is descended from the line of pharaohs that make up the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (aka the Pyramid Builders of Giza.) And I haven't had any suggestions on good post-SOM stories to base the last chapter on, so please help. Anyway, on with the story.

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter VII: Siren's Song**

I could tell that Percy was shaken by Circe's, but he wouldn't say a thing about what she had told him before I finished changing. Fortunately, that gave me a lot of time to think about the revelations that had come to me over the past few days. First, why would Percy be jealous of Luke being around Annabeth? Nothing seemed to fit, unless-maybe Percy was in love? Well, why not? It was the only logical explanation, Percy was in love with Annabeth.

The other one was a little more difficult. As Greek demigods, we weren't taught much about Egypt. In fact, we were told absolutely _nothing_ about Egypt or it's pantheon. The only thing I knew about Ra was that he was the equivalent of Zeus, but House of Ra? I asked Annabeth about it while we were below decks, she _knew _nothing about Ra or Egyptian mages, but she had heard something about a group of Egyptian magicians called the House of Life and that they'd actually _banished_ their gods about two thousand years ago. Of course, none of this explained what Circe said.

We reached the Siren's island on the evening of June 16th (my watch had a calendar on it,) and Annabeth had a strange request: let her listen to the Sirens. "They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive . . . you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?" I had to admit, it made sense the way she put it, and we couldn't say no.

A few minutes later, Percy came by to hand me the wax plugs. "No thanks, I don't need them." When he looked at me like I was crazy, I explained. "I can manipulate the air around me with just a thought. If I do it right, I would be as deaf as Helen Keller." Not half an hour later, we had tied Annabeth to the main mast and Percy and I were deaf to the Sirens' song. I would occasionally look down at Percy to check on him and make sure he wasn't doing anything stupid. It became clear to me that Annabeth was really getting to him, there were times that he wouldn't even look at her. Then, he ran to the side of the boat, and when I looked to see what he was looking at, I saw Annabeth swimming for her life to the Sirens. I immediately stopped the ship and flew off to stop her. I quickly realized that the best way to stop her from swimming to her death would be to kill the Sirens. Of course, the best weapon for that was the Lightning Bolt, so I started shooting the Sirens as quickly as I could. By the time they were all destroyed, Percy and Annabeth had arrived back at the ship and Percy was trying to get the ship going. I let the ship go and returned as fast as I could.

When I returned to the ship, Annabeth was explaining her fatal flaw, hubris, to Percy. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we _could_ do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework. I mean, the West represents a lot of the best of the best things mankind ever did-that's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like _you_ could do a better job if you ran the world?"

Percy answered first. "Um . . . no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."

"Then your lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw. What about you Alex?"

"I have to admit, I have thought about it recently. Sometimes I do think I could do better than Dad does, but if I got offered the chance right now, I'd turn it down. If I ever was going to take Dad's place, I'd wait until I was quite a bit older, like maybe thirty before taking his job. Besides, sometimes it seems like nothing but a hassle. But in any case, destroy the world to remake it? Not my style. I'd rather work with what's here than start all over." _Besides, Olympus is going to fall eventually, at least according to Phoebe,_ I thought, the first line of her prophecy was running through my head-_Seven seals bind he who shall end the gods_.

"Then you're both lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw." We talked for a few more minutes before Annabeth said "Look." We turned and saw a saddle-shaped island with forested hills, white beaches, and green meadows, a paradise. We had reached Polyphemus' island.

**A/N:** Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, but the next one is going to be fairly long, I hope. Please READ AND REVIEW!


	10. I am Noman!

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter VIII: I Am Noman!**

Polyphemus' island was postcard perfect, except for the rope bridge and the carnivorous sheep. The only nice things about it was that it had a nice cliff to hide the _QAR_, and there was a lifeboat from the _CSS Birmingham_ on the beach. Annabeth and Percy were going to get to the top of the cliff the hard way, until I offered to give them a lift. "Come on, it's easier this way. Besides, why climb when you can fly?" When we got to the top, we discovered that we were right above Polly's lair, and he was about to boil Clarisse for the wedding dinner. Unfortunately, she had to blow the fact that Grover was a satyr, and not another Cyclops. Naturally, Polly broke it off with Grover, but he also decided to marry Clarisse! (Personally, I think it would have been a good match. In fact I think that only Polly could be happy with Clarisse. Don't ask me what Chris sees in her.)

We tried for hours to move the rock, but we couldn't budge it. (I didn't use my lightning bolt because I wanted to keep that a secret as long as possible. When I used it before, no one ever noticed. first because of the man-eating birds, second, because everyone was busy fighting the Kraken, and most recently because Percy was saving Annabeth from the Sirens.) "Trickery. We can't beat him by force, we'll have to use trickery."

"Okay, what trick?"

"I haven't figured that part out yet."

"I have though. Who does Polly hate the most?"

Percy asked, "Polly? Isn't that a name for a parrot?"

I sighed at Percy's inability to recognize a nickname when he heard one. "Polyphemus, who does Polyphemus hate the most?"

"Odysseus, of course. He hates him for blinding him."

"Exactly, so I'll just become him, or should I say, Noman."

"Don't you mean Nobody?"

"Please, Annabeth. I've read _The Odyssey_ and it translates best as Noman. Besides, that makes more sense, considering the only female warriors were the legendary Amazons. For now, I am Noman. But if you need to talk to me around him, call me Odysseus, alright?" They both agreed. Once Polly returned, they snuck into the cave, Percy under a sheep, Annabeth using he invisibility cap. Polly was just about to close his door when I called out, "Greetings, old friend!"

"Who said that?"

"It is I, old friend. I am Noman!"

That got _precisely_ the reaction that we were hoping for. "Noman! I remember you!"

"You haven't changed at all in the past three thousand years! You're still as foolish as before!" That's when he threw the first boulder at me. "Your aim hasn't improved any either!"

"Come here! Let me kill you, Noman!"

"_Let_ you kill me? I was wrong before. You _have_ changed, you're even more foolish than before! You'll have to find me if you want to kill me!" In the meantime, I was activating my celestial steel spear, preparing for the right time to strike. Then, unbelievably, he hit Annabeth! I was furious, no one was going to do that to my friends! I threw my spear at the one point that I knew would hurt him the most, his nearly blind eye. The spear flew true and hit dead center in his pupil. I yelled "**Put her down!**" just before he started screaming in agony. He dropped her alright, but she was above a cliff that dropped nearly 500 ft to the sea, in addition to the fifty foot drop from where she was to ground level. I took off, and moving with the speed of Hermes, caught her before she even fell 40 ft and then carried her back to the ship. When I got back, I noticed Percy, Clarisse, and Grover attacking Polly, but they weren't doing so well. I decided to help them out a bit by aggravating the wound in his eye by pulling out the spear. It was a good plan, but instead of coming out, the spear broke in half. So, I improvised; instead of just taking out the spear, I jabbed the broken shaft into his eye and pulled on both halves, taking the eye with me. (I later put it on display in the Big House, next to the Hydra head.)

"AH! Noman has blinded me again! A thousand curses on Noman! I'll kill him for blinding me again!" By now, the others had gotten across the rope bridge, and I followed them over. "Hey, Odysseus. Where's Annabeth?"

"She's safe onboard the ship, Percy. Now, let's get the fleece and get out of here." Unfortunately, Polly got across just then and swept Grover and Clarisse away before they could even react to him being there. Percy was so furious about that that he actually beat Polly on his own and made him cry! Unfortunately, between that and the fact that they were brothers, Percy decided to be merciful. (You wouldn't catch me being merciful to a monster, even if it was a child of Zeus.) Naturally, Polly double-crossed him and moved to eat Percy. Luckily, that's when Tyson decided to show up, throwing a rock into Polly's throat and knocking him down to the beach. "Bad Polyphemus. Not all Cyclops as nice as we look." Tyson then grabbed the Fleece and we escaped to the _QAR_, where Percy put the Fleece around Annabeth, letting it work its magic on her.

Percy and I got the ship going, just as Polly showed up and started bombarding us with boulders. "Father Poseidon, curse this thief!"

"Poseidon won't curse me. I'm his son too. He won't play favorites." Polly continued to curse us and throw boulders, attempting to sink us. He was so pathetic, that I couldn't help but taunt him the same way Odysseus did.

"Polyphemus! Should anyone ask who took your eye, tell them that it was Alexander Summers, son of Zeus!" Unfortunately, my taunt told him exactly where we were, and the next boulder hit the _Queen Anne's Revenge_, sinking her inside of three minutes. Luckily, there were some hippocampi nearby and they saved us from drowning, and took us back to Miami.


	11. The Return

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter IX: The Return**

As usual, mortals paid us no heed when we washed up on the beach, but returning to civilization brought the others a shock. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"

"Thalia's tree must be almost dead. We have to get the Fleece back _tonight_."

"How are we supposed to do that? We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It's _your_ fault, Jackson! You too, Summers! If you hadn't interfered-"

"Wait a minute. What did the Oracle say?" I hated Clarisse, but the prophecy would probably explain how to succeed.

"All right. _You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone; You shall find what you seek and make it your own; But despair for your life entombed within stone; And fail without friends, to fly home alone._" Percy quickly figured out what the prophecy and asked if any of us had any money. I grabbed my wallet and pulled out $500 cash, in Franklins. (What? Dad and the Doc insisted I carry large amounts of cash, just in case.) I handed it to Clarisse, at Percy's insistence, as he handed her the Fleece.

"Percy, that was so-"

"Generous?" Grover suggested.

"Selfless?" I asked.

"_Insane._ You're betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?" I could tell that Annabeth was more upset that Percy had surprised her than the fact that he had given Clarisse the Fleece. Clarisse had only been gone a few minutes when we got an unwelcome surprise. "Hey, cuz. Welcome back to the States."

Luke and his monster buddies tied us up, and then led us back to the _Princess Andromeda_ and started searching us. "Maybe you didn't hear me. Where-is-the-Fleece?"

"Not here. We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."

"You're lying, Percy. You couldn't have . . . Clarisse?" He was shocked beyond belief, his face as red as a cherry. "You trusted . . . you gave . . ."

"Yep."

"Agrius! Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast!"

"You'll never catch her, Luke. She's got an hour's head start on you by now. She's probably already in the air." I was bluffing. It had only been half an hour since we parted ways, but it was better that he believed that then knowing the truth.

"You've been toying with us all along. You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."

"Of course, Percy. And you've messed everything up!"

"Traitor!" What was Percy doing? And why would he throw his last drachma at Luke? "You tricked all of us! Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!" Huh? What was all that about Mr. D . . . Ohhh, an Iris message. Clever Percy, I never would have thought of that. Percy then managed to get Luke to confess to everything.

"You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"

"Because I want everyone in the audience to hear you."

"_What_ audience?" And that's when he turned around to see the Iris message.

"Well, some unplanned dinner entertainment." Percy then got Mr. D to admit that Luke's confession was genuine. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games." Just then Tanty got a hold of a cheeseburger, and he started cackling like he'd gone mad from pleasure. I knew it couldn't last, I'd even told him one day that the day he touched food again would be the day he was sent back, and that Dad would never allow him to taste food or drink again. "We are no longer in any need of your services, Tantalus."

"What? But-"

"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."

"No! But-Nooooooooo!" As he was screaming, he started dissolving into the sulfuric mist that monsters did when they died. He was trying to get one bite of the cheeseburger when he disappeared completely. The cheeseburger hit the plate, acting as a signal for the campers to start cheering. Luke was so furious that he slashed Backbiter through the Iris message and then let himself get baited into a duel with Percy. While they were busy with that, I managed to grab Annabeth's knife and cut her free, then she did the same for me. Now that we were free, we crept up to some of the monsters and started taking them out.

"You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetite." Oreius was moving towards us when I heard the distinctive _whish_ of an arrow and then saw it sticking out of his head. And before anyone could react to that, a black Pegasus stallion had caved in Agrius' face and both had dissolved into dust. That's when all Hell broke loose. (I know that Percy mentioned Hades, but the Greek Underworld isn't all _that_ bad.) Four or five centaurs, one of them being Chiron, charged into the midst of Luke's army and started attacking them/partying. Within five minutes, nearly every monster on the deck had disintegrated and we had escaped.

About an hour later, Chiron was talking to us about some prophecy that the Delphic Oracle had made. "I suppose I could not expect to keep it a secret forever."

"So _am _I the one in the prophecy? Or is it Alex?"

"I wish I knew, Percy. Both of you are not yet sixteen. For now we must simply train you as best as we can, and leave the rest to the Fates."

"That's what it meant. Last summer. The omen from the Fates, when I saw them snip somebody's life string. I thought it might meant I was going to die right away, but it's worse than that. It's got something to do with your prophecy. The death they foretold-it's going to happen when I'm sixteen."

"My boy, you can't be sure of that. We don't even know it the prophecy is about you."

"_Delphi shall cause worry; And four will stand empty; Two half-bloods of the eldest gods; Shall reach sixteen against all odds._" I quoted. The way Chiron looked at me, more shocked than Luke had been when he realized who had the Fleece, made me curious. What was he so shocked about? "That was the prophecy of the Titaness Phoebe, and the first half has already been fulfilled. _Delphi shall cause worry; And four will stand empty_. Because of this prophecy, Delphi _has_ caused the gods' to worry, and Zeus and Poseidon's cabins were empty for 60 years. Four empty cabins. And do you know any other demigod children of the Big Three, let alone any that share their birthday?"

"None that we know of."

"And Kronos is rising. He's going to destroy Mount Olympus!"

"He will try. And Western Civilization along with it, if we don't stop him. But we _will_ stop him. You two will not be alone in that fight."

We arrived at camp only fifteen minutes after Clarisse and we quickly took the Fleece to Thalia's tree, draping it over the lowest branch. It brought immediate results, a good thing too. Apparently a dragon had attacked the camp and destroyed the arts and crafts cabin. Speaking of which, Chiron mentioned putting an add in _Olympus Weekly_ for an appropriate guardian of the fleece. Luckily, nobody mentioned our unsolicited support of Clarisse's quest, considering we'd have been kicked out. The next morning, Chiron announced that the chariot races would continue, and we all got back to work on our chariots. Annabeth and Percy had made peace and worked together, deciding to share the prize if they won. I decided that I would help them win, happy to see them working together again. The Tyson problem had apparently evaporated after he saved them from Polly.

The night before the races, I was walking by the stables when I noticed Percy talking to Hermes. "Oh, listen, Lord Hermes, about Luke . . . Uh, we saw him, all right, but-"

"You weren't able to talk sense into him?"

"Well we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."

"I see. You tried the diplomatic approach." A few minutes later, he explained. "Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related, for better or worse . . . and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum. You two should get back to bed. I've helped you get into quite enough trouble this summer already. I really came only to make these deliveries."

"You _two?_ Deliveries?" I revealed myself, and Hermes had us sign for our envelopes. As soon as Hermes left, we opened our letters. Percy's was simple, and a little disappointing. It was only two words: **Brace Yourself**. Mine was a bit longer: **Be Prepared. Everything is about to change**. The next day, I managed to take both Ares and Hermes out when they got too close to Annabeth and Percy. Once they'd won the race, Percy finally acknowledged Tyson as his brother in front of the other campers.

**A/N:** That's the end of that. Next up, the finale of _Summer Odyssey, _including a little surprise for Alex. And after that will be _Demigod Cannonball Run_, my version of _The Titan's Curse._


	12. Thalia

**A/N:** Before I get started on this, thanks to JazzPotato67 and clm08a for providing the stories that I base the finale on. And since none of you offered a suggestion as to how to decide which one takes the role of Cabin Counselor, I decided to keep it simple. Now, on to the show!

**Summer Odyssey**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Two**

**Chapter X: Thalia**

A few days after the chariot race, we learned that Tyson was going to Poseidon's to work at the forges. Then, the day after he left, _it_ happened. That morning, before 'rosy-fingered Dawn' had hit the camp, Grover came running to the cabins yelling for me and Percy. "Annabeth . . . on the hill . . . she . . . She's lying there . . . just lying there . . ." Obviously _something_ had happened that night. Annabeth had been guarding the Fleece that night while we waited for a monster guardian.

Percy and I threw on some clothes and ran to my sister's tree, (I could tell he had done the same because his shirt was on inside out.) By the time we'd gotten there, dozens of other campers had already arrived (more had come after we got the fleece,) as had Chiron. "Curse the Titan Lord! He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."

"What do you mean?"

"The Fleece. The Fleece worked its magic too well." I was wondering what that meant, when I noticed two things. First was the girl lying by the tree. She was about two years older than me, with short black hair, freckles across on her nose, and all black clothes, and a leather jacket. The other was a scratching sound coming from underground, almost like fingernails digging against the wood of a coffin. Percy called out for some nectar and ambrosia, just as I caught her demigod scent. I was shocked, because I _knew _that scent, and I knew it as well as I knew Olympus or Percy. It was the smell of a thunderstorm, my scent, Hercules' scent, the scent of a child of Zeus. "Come on! What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House."

Then she woke up. "Who-"

"I'm Percy. You're safe now."

"Strangest dream . . ."

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No. You're okay. What's your name?"

I looked around, and I could tell everyone already knew the answer, even Percy had figured it out. But Chiron, Grover and Annabeth were clearly in shock, seeing someone that they hadn't seen in six years. "I am Thalia. Daughter of Zeus." Then she passed out again.

Percy finally got fed up with the way that everyone was in shock and just carried her to the Big House on his own. That finally woke me up, and I turned to Chiron, Grover and Annabeth. "Chiron, I think that you should get the counselors to a meeting in the Big House to discuss this. But first, Annabeth, Grover, I need you to help me dig here. The Fleece brought someone else back to life." My orders woke them up and Chiron told the counselors to get their siblings to their cabins, while they were to report to the Rec. Room in one hour. Annabeth ran for some shovels while Grover grabbed a few other satyrs and some nymphs to help out. We quickly dug to the coffin, and found the one person I never expected to see again, my mother, Sarah Summers. "Dad was right," I said after I'd made the necessary introductions. "Everything _has _changed."

Inside the Big House, Chiron set up shifts for the counselors to watch over Thalia until she woke up again. The first shift consisted of Percy, Annabeth and I. After one hour, Percy and Annabeth had both fallen asleep. About an hour after that, Thalia woke up again. "Who are you? Where am I? Are the Minotaur and Orthrus dead? Where are Grover, Annabeth and Luke? Did they make it alright?"

Whew, this could be difficult. "My name is Alex Summers, and you're in the Big House at Camp Half-Blood. And they did get here safely."

"What are you keeping from me? Where are they? I thought that they would be here watching over me."

"Well, Annabeth is here, and Grover is with Dionysus right now."

"And Luke? Where is he? WHAT ARE YOU KEEPING FROM ME?" I sighed. I'd been hoping to keep it from her until she'd gotten better. "Thalia, what year is it?" (A/N: I know, one of the oldest lines in history, but it's lasted so long because it _works_.)

"What _year_? It's 2000. Why?"

"When you stayed behind to let Luke and Annabeth get to safety, you nearly died. Da-er, Zeus turned you into a tree to save your life. That was six years ago." I could see the shock and disbelief in her eyes, so I decided to bring in my proof. "Annabeth, come over here so Thalia can see you." Percy and I decided to leave them alone for a little while. Eventually, Annabeth came out. "Well, that could have gone better."

"What, she didn't believe you?"

"Not exactly, Nygma. I think it's going to be a while before it sinks in and she actually believes it."

Dad was able to take care of Mom enough so that she had a place to live, and she wasn't legally dead anymore, and Thalia was able to leave the Big House the next day. So naturally Chiron called the three of us to a meeting. When Percy and I arrived at the Conference Room, Chiron had obviously told Thalia about Luke, and was waiting for us before continuing. "My dear, have you been told of the Great Prophecy?"

"No, I haven't heard anything about a prophecy."

"What about the Pact of the Big Three?"

"That I _have_ heard about. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"A little before World War II, a prophecy was made. I cannot tell you all of it, but it foretold that the next child sired by the Big Three to reach sixteen would be a powerful weapon. They will make a decision that will save or destroy the age of the gods."

"So they stopped having kids with mortals so no one would turn against them?" Chiron answered in the affirmative. "But I was born anyway. So now I'm a powerful weapon that could destroy the gods?"

"Quite possibly. But you are not yet sixteen. Kronos now has three chances to control the prophecy."

"_Three_ chances? What do you mean-" Then she turned to look at Percy and me. "Wait a second, who are you? You look like . . . someone I know . . ."

"I'm Percy."

"What cabin."

"Cabin three. I'm a son of Poseidon."

"And I suppose that would make you a son of Hades?"

I laughed at that. "No. While I'm sure that would be an interesting life, Hades is just my uncle."

"Poseidon then?"

"No, I'm actually your brother. I'm a son of Zeus." Thalia just looked at me in shock. I wasn't surprised. Except for a few facial features, we were about as different as night and day. She was as pale as death, while I was deeply tanned. She had hair blacker than midnight, while mine was blonde. She clearly preferred black, while I was wearing all blue (probably why she thought I was Percy's brother.)

After a pause, Chiron continued. "Well, now you know. Kronos will be manipulating all of you in every way possible. Now that there are three of you, he believes it will cause you to be weaker. You must not let Kronos get to you, and you need to be able to rely on each other for strength. Can you promise me that you'll do this?" His gazed shifted back and forth between us. All three of us agreed to do that.

"So, did either of you know Luke?"

"Yeah, we both did. He helped us out a lot in our first week or two here. At least, until we left for our quest, and then he got me alone and . . . Anyway, yeah, I knew him, and called him a friend for a while."

"He was my family for so long. I can't believe he would do any of that."

"We're so sorry."

"So, can either of you do anything special?"

When Percy asked what she meant, she held her hands about a foot apart and electricity sparked between her fingers. "Well, as far as I know, I can't miss with a bow or spear, I can see through the Mist perfectly-if I want to, and I can smell demigods."

"Smell half-bloods? That sounds like something a satyr can do. In fact, nothing you can do sounds like Zeus."

"Well, Dad had our siblings give me gifts before I was born."

"Anything from Dad?"

"Nothing I want to show anyone anytime soon." I really wanted to keep the Bolt a secret as long as possible. Percy declined to show Thalia anything at the moment, although considering we were nowhere near water, I could understand why. We then led her on a tour of the camp, just like Annabeth had done for us. When we passed by Athena's cabin, she asked "So, how is Annabeth doing?"

Percy explained, "She's the counselor for Athena. She's not the oldest, but she's been here the longest, she's thirteen now. Her siblings look up to her because she really knows here stuff."

"Wow, Annabeth. You're really growing up."

"That sounds more like something a parent would say than a friend."

"Well, when we were on our way here, we were each others family. Naturally, Luke and I took on the role of parents."

Percy dropped us off at our cabin, and I showed Thalia around. It wasn't long before Thalia and I had our first spat of sibling rivalry. "Why do you have the largest room?"

"Well, because I was the only one here for the past year, so I picked this room. You got a problem with that, sis?"

"I'm the oldest, I should get it. And _NEVER_ call me sis!" Her hands started sparking and I pulled out Thuella and prepared to shoot her . . .

A couple hours later, Chiron had finally finished lecturing us about "never fight inside a cabin, and NEVER destroy the cabin." His punishment: rebuilding the destroyed section of the wall, and the only divine help we could have was building materials. That was the beginning of a long hate-hate relationship that lasted throughout the summer, fall, and into winter. Our relationship worsened when Zeus and Hera picked sides in our fights; Dad was with me, and Hera took Thalia's side. We always sat as far apart as possible at meals, slept in opposite corners of the cabin, and only got together for events when we could compete against one another. The only time we agreed was when we decided what to do about the counselor position. We finally decided that we would be our own counselor, and we would both show up for counselors meetings. Things finally came to a head when we were both asked to help Grover out at Westover Hall Military Academy . . .

**A/N:** That's it for Summer Odyssey. Next up, Demigod Cannonball Run aka Titan's Curse. Thanks to everyone who reviewed: Reading Obsession, Katoo, koil163, weeeee, Time-4-fun, that dude from that place, Star of Calamity, playstationdemon, KenZe, and KhairulJBlack.


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